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As a former student in the Texas A&M system, I can pretty much confirm that the system is notoriously conservative. Liberal professors do get hired, and there are also a few liberals in the administration. But the core power base of the A&M system may as well be a Southern Baptist seminary.

These are smart people, mind you...smart and powerful. They know how to get their way both in the system and in the State. If they wanted those crosses to stay, they would have known to put them on the private property of a wealthy supporter.

The problem is that religion has got its tentacles so deep into every aspect of US society that it is virtually impossible to act in this country without considering how the Christians will feel about it. A chilling effect on free speech indeed.

Even more dismaying is the fact that some of our universities, once lauded as bastions of free thought and liberal learning, are now as completely under the sway of the church as are the government and many private corporations. Sadly, even high level administrators (mostly PhDs) for supposedly secular educational institutions are unable to separate their own faith from their daily dealings or simply lack the courage to stand up to the Christian P.R. machine. This is especially true in Bible Belt and other heavily religious states, where it is often easier to knuckle under to pressure from the peanut gallery, rather than take a stand and defend their own faculty.

Until more Americans challenge the Christian majority's idea that "might makes right", firings like this will be the norm, not the exception.

A common premise here in Texas, and I think more and more in the U.S. as a whole, regardless of an institution's political ideology, is to never publicly criticize the people who write your paycheck. It's quite a shame, as it essentially silences what is usually constructive and useful criticism. It helps to highlight problems before they become too serious.

Instead, the bureaucratic response is usually to just fire the critics to avoid looking "weak" or "embarrassed".